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Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Nurgle Rhino [WIP - Organic Bits & Panel Lining]

Meet someone new, they said. The boy next door looks like a nice person, they suggested. Sure, he has weird tastes in T-shirts but who hasn't gone through the Nurgle idolizing phase, they protested somewhat defensively. Moral of the story ... trust your instincts. Lucy didn't and paid the price. She now adorns the Rhino's side hull as a offering from a Chaos novitiate wannabe. At this stage I'm still unsure how the hull plating behind Lucy should be painted. Blood? Gore? Diseased mucus and pus? These are all things Nurgle but they seem the wrong choice somehow. So it remains blank for now.

Meet Lucy ... the new Nurgle Rhino ornament/mascot

A skull ... all Chaos vehicles don't seem complete without one

One of my favourite things to paint is a skull. Not for any morbid reason I assure you. I just love recreating the textures and colours of bone through paint. Part of why I love drawing (or try to at least) realistic portraits, paint skin tones or do weathering effects on scale model kits is that I love to recreate a piece of realism using art. And I guess painting skulls is one way to scratch that itch.

What's better than a skull ... well two skulls and a chain, that's what

Layers beneath the the skulls and metal chains are up for more weathering soon

Prior to applying panel lining to the crevices of the transport vehicle, I first had to protect the underlying paint job from subsequent weathering techniques using oil/enamel paints and washes. Technically, such washes and paints shouldn't adversely effect the acrylic paint job too much or even a tall. But I decided to play it safe in case aggressive use of solvents and/or thinners were required. So I sprayed a thin layer of semi-gloss clear coat (acrylic). Semi-gloss is a good compromise in that it gives sufficient surface tension for subsequent weathering effects while avoiding a too glossy shine.

Prior to panel lining with Mr Weathering, the existing layers of paint were protected with a clear semi-gloss coat

While subtle, the panel lining effects add a necessary level of depth to the entire vehicle. If I had proceeded with other weathering effects (e.g. rust streaks, dust, dirt, mud, etc.) without first establishing a baseline effect of what I call 'minimal depth' then anyone observing the vehicle would always be saying - yeah it looks nice and all but there's something missing that I can't quite place.

Subtle effects of panel lining, after (top) and before (bottom)

Adding depth via panel lining, after (top) and before (bottom)

Here are some photos of the Nurgle Rhino as is stands with its organic bits painted up and panel lining applied to its crevices. Just a few though as no huge progress has been made in this post.

Nurgle Rhino, work-in-progress on organic bits and panel lining

Weathering on the Nurgle Rhino is progressing nicely but so much more remains to be done

So that's my short update on the Nurgle Rhino. Still nothing much to shout about to be honest. However, the first 'exponential step' of the weathering process will be taken soon. And that's when things start to get really interesting. Hopefully your patience - in watching what so far is essentially the proverbial paint dry - will be rewarded. If things go well I may even have an update before the week is out. Until then, thank you so much for your kind comments thus far and have a great week ahead.

You know you're probably in the right mood to work on things like this when you're starting to make up stories for the many skulls which adorn a chaos model 😁. I like the idea of adding some puss behind Lucy, as if she's fused with and perhaps still alive in some grotesque nurglesque way on the rhino.

I did think of keeping her alive but it seems so grotesque somehow. I'm a wuss when it comes to horror which is ironic seeing that I'm painting a Nurgle transport. LoL :) Knowing me I'll likely be lazy towards the end of the project and just put some dirt effects behind her. ^_^

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Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Kuan Hua aka FourEyedMonster may have joined the miniature painting scene late but he is mighty glad he finally took the plunge. With a love for all things creative ... be it painting, drawing or writing ... he is having a blast working with miniatures from as small as 28-mm in scale all the way to 90-mm. If you wish to know more about FourEyes in detail, please click the About Me tab above.

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